SSG No 10 - Shipgaz

If the EU, and the
Commission, has been
good for anything it has
been good for shipping.
complete career for those who choose a
career at sea.
“Our challenge in the industry is to
make sure that we are the best alternative
when any of our seamen wants to continue
their career ashore. Then later, after a couple
of years when they have raised their
families, or what ever their reason to find
work ashore was, perhaps they want to go
back to sea again.”
Personal development
This is also what student Henrik Edwinsson
thinks is just as important as the common
arguments of high salaries and long
shore leaves: possibilities for personal
development.
“I think many who go to the Marine
Academy start because they have heard
about high salaries and long shore leaves.
The genuine interest in working at sea
comes after a couple of years. And therefore
I think most of us who are considering
future employment really also consider
❯
Since the mid 1990’s, Norwegian officers
and crews have made out a quarter
of the seafarers in the foreign-going fleet.
The exact number has varied in accordance
with the fleet; from 13,100 in 1994 to 15,765
in 2000 and down to 12,000 in 2005. Since
then, the number has been on an upward
trend; the latest figure from the Norwegian
Shipowners’ Association is 13,100. In addition,
there are some 7,000 seafarers employed
in the coastal and ferry fleet.
There is a schism throughout the industry,
as the companies involved in the
deepsea bulk and tanker trades have long
ago turned to international manning, supplied
by crew managers using Filipino,
Indian, Russian or other maritime labour.
Shipowners involved in the chemical
“We in the industry must show that there is
a future career in shipping”, says Bimco
president Lennart Simonsson.
what career opportunities or courses and
education the companies offer.”
Rolf Axelsen at Teekay is already facing
the problem of finding people for their
land based job opportunities. Often it is
persons with experience from the sea he is
looking for, but cannot find.
“This is a global organisation so we can
still find people within the organisation
but perhaps we cannot get them to take a
job in for example Norway.”
fredrik davidsson
The Norwegian example
Better conditons for foreign seafarers
trades and other demanding trades have
retained an element of Norwegian or West
European officers, whereas the offshore
service industry has been dependent on
Norwegians.
Net-wage and subsidies
The net-wage system introduced in 2003
has largely strengthened this segregation.
Vessels in the NOR register and NIS-vessels
with a Norwegian safety manning are
eligible for the net-wage system. For every
seafarer under the net-wage system, a small
fee is paid to a fund managed by the Norwegian
Maritime Competence Foundation.
This year, the fund will spend NOK 44
million to practice positions for trainees,
cadets and junior officers. Also, each ship
SHIPPING AND SHIP MANAGEMENT
under the system has to provide two training
positions. This arrangement has solved
a previous scarcity.
The looming global shortage of seafarers
at a time when the world fleet is growing vigorously
has been a wake-up for shipowners
and management companies. There is now a
strong focus on how to keep the Filipino
and Indian seafarers, by offering benefits like
family insurance schemes, higher wages and
– inevitably – shorter service periods.
Companies with a good number of West
European officers have started to look at
combinations of shore and sea service periods
to be able to keep them. There is now a
strong interest in taking on trainees, cadets
and even junior officers.
dag bakka jr
SCANDINAVIAN SHIPPING GAZETTE • MAY 21, 2007 31
BROSTRÖM
The Finnish example
Shortage
of engineers
❯
According to Finnish Maritime
Administration there were some
11,400 professional seafarers in Finland
in 2005. Expressed in the amount
of work one person manages to carry
out in one year, the number was 8,900,
of which 3,050 on deck and 1,700 in
the engine department.
There are problems recruiting engineers
and there is an acute shortage of
electricians. Regarding the vacancies
deck, the supply and demand in general
is in better balance. The supply of
young watchkeeping officers is even
larger than the demand, some of the
surplus working as ordinary seamen on
deck. There is a certain shortage of
experienced senior deck officers.
On Åland the admission places for
master mariners and engineers respectively
are filled up with students. In Finland
the admission places are fully utilized
for master mariners but roughly
50–60 per cent in the programmes for
watchkeeping officers and engineers.
pär-henrik sjöström